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Harvest Witch
Harvest Witches are primitive nature magic users. While not widespread, they have existed on the fringes of Gilnean society, and are mostly found among Gilneas' agrarian peoples. Gwen Armstead refers to Celestine of the Harvest as a "harvest witch", although Celestine herself refers to her order as "druids". King Genn Greymane had heard that "druidism was practiced among some of Gilneas's agrarian folk, but he hadn't been exposed to it until recently". Celestine claims that her order of Gilnean druids were "driven to the edge of extinction once before". Celestine also refers to her druidic order as "keepers of the old ways". Practices of primitive druidism or "the old ways" were once alive and well within or around Gilnean society before the sealing of the Wall. In time though (before the Greymane Wall was erected) the followers of the Holy Light must have spread their teachings to Gilneas and succeeded in converting many of its people, causing druidism to slowly fade into the past and become mostly forgotten. The extinction of the Gilnean druids was prevented, however, by a Gilnean famine that struck when their crops failed. Celestine claims it was their order who "called upon the earth's blessing and restored the harvest". Harvest witches have a limited control over nature, especially plant life, and the powers of harvest witches bear a coincidental resemblance to the low-level abilities of actual Kal'dorei (Night Elf) druids. Harvest witches who contracted the Worgen curse (which was druidic in origin) found that their powers were somewhat amplified, and after making first contact with the Night Elf cursed harvest witches were offered induction into the Cenarion Circle for both study and training. While Harvest Witches are predominantly female, male Harvest-Witches are not impossible. They're often referred to as "Harvest Warlocks" or "Harvest Watchers." Although, the Lupoj'inini peoples in the Duchy of Kentillie do not abide with any grammatical gender noun-class system in this respect. Background In the early days of humanity and its civilization, many tribes of humans had primitive belief systems that incorporated simple nature magic. However, the rise of organized religion such as the Holy Light and the potent arcane magics introduced by the high elves quickly supplanted such traditions. Gilneas, due to its relative isolation, has retained a degree of their ancient culture in the contemporary era. The religious leaders of what was in Gilneas referred to as the "old ways" eventually became "harvest-witches"; those who used their nature powers to augment Gilneas' agricultural output during and following its period of ndustrialization. The presence of harvest-witches like Celestine suggests that Gilneans already had a good start with druidism. She makes reference of druid practices being "the old ways" and recounts a time when their powers supplied food during a time of famine, pointing to druidic roots as a base, even before night elf contact. This is agreed with in "Lord of the Pack" short story when Genn Greymane stated "He had heard that druidism was practiced among some of Gilneas's agrarian folk, but he hadn't been exposed to it until recently". It seems many Worgen have at least tried to embrace the druidic heritage of their new race after their transformation. This can be seen as a coping mechanism, or the fact that the natural powers can help them keep control of their animalistic rage. Gilnean druids may have been capable of shapeshifting even prior to contact with the night elves. It's when King Greymane sees a night elf shapeshift out of flight form that reminds him of Gilnean druids. Spirit Worship Harvest Witches were called upon during great famine in Gilneas to use their druidic magic to bring forth more plentiful harvests that would help the people of Gilneas with their shortage of food. The Harvest witches believed in a multitude of spirits who resided in the various Flora present in Gilneas, but most importantly in the spirits of harvest, from which they took their name as a result they mostly resided among agrarian communities. Some of these harvest spirits are listed here: Vehnanie Vehnanie is a spirit commonly worshiped as the keeper of wheat, agriculture, fertility of the land, birth and rebirth. Vehnanie is associated both with the harvest as well as the spring. Shrines dedicated and set with offerings of wheat grain were set up to hail this spirit in hopes of plentiful and rich harvest. The spirits representation are bundles of wheat. Omenae Omenae is a spirit commonly worshipped as the keeper of orchards and fruit trees. Like many other agricultural deities, Omenae is associated with the harvest itself as well as the flourishing of fruit trees. The spirit is generally portrayed and associated with Apple Trees and it is not uncommon to find a large, ancient Apple tree among an orchard that is dedicated to it. Köynnös Köynnös is a spirit commonly worshiped as the keeper of vines and grapes and vineyards. Unlike many other agricultural deities, Köynnös is associated mainly with the harvest rather than both spring and harvest. Köynnös was one of the most celebrated spirits during the harvest time, due to the nature of a successful Harvest allowing for fermentation of grapes and eventual wine. Vinyards and those working with grapes would often dedicated their first vintages to the spirit for continued success with future harvests. Kurptsae Kurptsae is revered and worshiped as a Keeper for vines of pumpkin, pumpkins generally grew well in Gilneas and as such spirits of harvest who identify with the pumpkin like Kurptsae are revered for the harvest and food they bring with them. Pumpkins are also used during Hallow’s End to this day, in a sense a continuation of celebration of Kurptsae, among others. Vilija Another Harvest spirit is Vilija this spirit is believed to be responsible for the growth of maize and corn among the Harvest Witches. Vilija is honored with wreaths made of maize leaves which are hung around a field in hopes of attracting the spirit to enrich the ground and cause fruitful harvest. Koivae Koivae is a spirit of neither spring nor harvest, but rather Koivae is seen as a protector and the keeper of souls. Symbolized as a birch tree which stands for both wisdom and youth, life and death all in one. When Harvest Witches pass on, they are burned with a bundle of birch wood to help their spirits move on. Old Ways Peoples Some cultures hold the Old Ways close to them. In Agrarian Gilnean society, many farming villages held Harvest Witches and Watchers whom have kept their teachings alive in these cultures. Other cultures exist as well within Gilneas that hold a more archaic version. Galuyn Clans The Galuyn clans are a group of people who claim to be the native peoples of Gilneas. Having a long lived history and culture, the Galuyn clans have ancestrally been opposed to Gilneas and what they perceive as an aggressive force against their existence as a culture. Once more widespread throughout the Kingdom, they were progressively pushed into the southern reaches of Gilneas over time, their teachings becoming instrumental to what would later adapt into modern Gilnean paganism. In more recent times, the Galuyn and Gilnean peoples have come together, with the Galuyn being recognized as a minority culture within Gilneas. The majority of the Galuyn people are led by the Council of the Coimeádaí, the Galuyn people seek to co-exist with the Gilneans and preserve their culture, as well as the overall status of Gilneas as a land; with their fates bound together. A splinter group, known as the Gnarled Confederation also exists on the isle of The Grip, led by Kolrick an Dualach-laoch, the former Godshunter of Wickenden and heir to the Gnarled. Primarily located in the Duchy of the Ashen Coast, the Galuyn clansmen co-exist with nature, as their entire society is based around the worship of their own pantheon of Wild Gods. Galuyn culture is divided into Clans, each of which comes from one of seven progenitor clans, or Elder Blood clans. Galuyn clans number in the hundreds, if not thousands. Some are no larger than a handful of people, while others are small societies in themselves. Each adheres to ancient traditions of their progenitors, and their people are easily identified by iconic yellow sashes that they wear when outside of their homes. Notable Galuyn * Clarisa an Cráifeach, Greatbinder of the Cráifeach (Thorned). * Council of the Coimeádaí, several high priests of the gods whom lead the Galuyn people. * Aleyina Nathair, Lady of the House of Nathair, a rare Gilnean noble house ruled by Galuyn blood and a leader of the Leanaí Iscia. * Airell Woodcourt * Siegrun an Gabhatine * Iris Beaumond and Conrad Forrest Beaumond * Kolrick an Dualach-laoch, Warlord of the Gnarled Confederation. The Lupoj'inini .]]The Lupoj'inini are a practically extinct sub-section of native Gilnean people living around the dense forests and tall mountains within the eastern part of the Kingdom of Gilneas in the Duchy of Kentillie. They are believed to have been one of the few Human tribes that landed in what today is referred to as Gilneas before it became a Kingdom, though this is but a rumor spread by the cave paintings in the first Den, within the Northern Woods of Kentillie. They are lead by their Matriarch, Matoaka. The small population hosts many practicing Harvest Witches, as their society is heavily influenced by them and nature. A once prosperous people, a heightening conflict arose between the Gilneans and the Lupoj'inini and skirmishes began to appear. Much to the misfortune of the Natives, the Gilnean people had gunpowder on their side, prompting the slow genocide and forced movement of the Lupoj'inini people towards the North of Kentillie. The Lupjo'nini have a strong bond with the druidic ways of Kal'dorei culture. Matriarch Matoaka had long known of the Kal'dorei druid named Thearius, and with his help the Lupoj'inini "mastered" what was previous known as the pack form, despite the barring of it's usage by Malfurion Stormrage. Though many decades had passed and the usage of such a form had died out among the remaining members of the Lupoj'Drassil Clan, the Matriarch still practices her own use of it, and hopes for a reemergence of such a form in the future of her Clan. Origins * The harvest-witches seem to thematically be based on the real, historic druids of the ancient Celtic people, as opposed to the druids in the rest of the Warcraft franchise which, aside from the name, are actually rather different from the historic druids. This matches Gilneas being based on Victorian England, as the Celts lived in Britain long ago. * The fate of the old Druidic religion of the Harvest-witches being replaced by the Worship of the Holy Light, and having been driven to the fringes of Human society to near extinction, shares similarities with Druidisim in the real world and how it was eventually replaced and driven to near extinction by the growing power of Christianity. * Celestine of the Harvest also connectied Gilnean, druidism, and the traditions of Hallow's End. Notes Information was taken from: * Wowpedia article on Harvest Witches * Wowpedia article on Worgen Category:Druids Category:Druidic Organizations Category:Gilnean Category:Kingdom of Gilneas Category:Classes and Professions